Saturday 21 March 2015

Charnwood marathon 2015


We have only run this race once before which was in 2013. The event was in March as usual but on the day of the event there were several inches of snow on the ground and it snowed for most of the time we were out.









This time the weather forecast was for cloud, temperatures between 6 and 9 degrees with a northerly wind of about 12 mph which would probably only affect us in the last few miles.

We stayed overnight in Loughborough and got to the start in Quorn at about 8.00 and just missed the walkers setting off.

The runners were leaving at 9.00 and we had time to chat to a few people we know from the 100 marathon club. Runners could choose from two distances 15m and 26m and there seemed to be a preference for the 15m, which had the same route as the 26m for the first 6m.

We started at a different point to avoid a narrow road and there was only one other change from 2013 near the end where the route had been changed to avoid a very boggy section.

The route meanders along quiet roads, tracks, alongside fields for the first three or four miles and then we started the first climb. The first two pictures above show us about half way up that climb. Then past the first self-clip and down to the bottom of Beacon Hill before another climb up the summit. Soon after that we were at the 6m checkpoint where the routes divide.

The conditions underfoot were much better than two years ago and also there was very little mud compared to the Belvoir event we did three weeks ago.

In the first part of the event there were lots and lots of kissing gates. Later they thinned out to be replaced by stiles. To find our way we were using the I had amended from 2013 which we had downloaded to our Garmins. There was the occasional sign, but we could see others who were using the route description and not having any difficulties.

There were more undulations and we went through another checkpoint at a monastery and after a moor type section plunged down before starting a climb to the highest point in Leicestershire. The self clip was on the trig point so we had to go all the way.

Then it was more gentle undulations before the final climb up through Bradgate Park,

March 2013





where there was another self clip before reaching the final check point in the car park at the bottom. Just four and half miles of relatively flat countryside after that before a road section to the finish, where there was an excellent choice of soups with cakes to follow. I do love LDWA type events :-)

We were pleased with our times, just over 5hr 30min, a whole 1hr 20min faster than in 2013 !

Sunday 1 March 2015

Belvoir Challenge 26m 2015

My fifth Belvoir Challenge and Melanie's second. What makes this event attractive is the variety of routes they come up given they have to use some village halls as checkpoints. Also it is a very friendly laid back event with proceeds going to the local primary school. The children from the school design the excellent finishing certificates.



The other big bonus is the home made cakes at the checkpoints :-) The scenery is also good without being spectacular.

It can be muddy and this year it was very muddy.




The weather can also be unpredictable in February and this year we were pretty lucky. Grey and a little drizzle to start and the wind picked up a little but nothing too bad.

It is three months since Meanie did a marathon and I did the Hardmoors Osmotherley less than two weeks ago so neither of us felt very confident. Melanie wasn't sure she had enough recent training and I was concerned I might not have recovered.

The start was busier than usual and the start was delayed by fifteen minutes. There seemed to be lots of people opting for the shorter distance (17m). We had already been waiting for a while so we decided to do something different - start before everybody else. I had seen people do this at this event before so I knew it would be fine. We left eighteen minutes before everybody else.

We soon discovered the first muddy section. It was very, very muddy but it wasn't too long before underfoot conditions improved a bit. But that was only temporary and mud soon returned and it was pretty muddy for the remainder of the route.

The faster runners caught us up well before the first checkpoint and we eventually overtook other people who must have started very early. The first checkpoint was just water, but after that the checkpoints were laden with food and drink.






Melanie was feeling a bit tired from the start, but I was fine until halfway when I realised that I was still tired from Osmotherley. Melanie kept up the same pace, but I slowed a bit. At 21m Melanie went on ahead and finished about 15 minutes ahead of me. I ran along the escarpment and had some good views before I descended and had some more mud to run through (and what was almost a small pond)



The course was superbly marked. We also had maps and a GPS trace on our watches provided so there was no danger of getting lost. We had seen a course marker running round the route checking everything on the way to the start, so the organisers had done their usual excellent job.

After finishing we had the usual soup and dessert provided which filled us up nicely. Melanie's 40th marathon/ultra which is some going since her first one was July 2012.